Thursday, June 21, 2007

Dealing with illegal immigration locally

Green Bay's City Council was the first in the state to take a local initiative in regards to illegal immigration. Any business in the area who knowingly hires illegal aliens "could have it's licenses, contracts and other grants from the city taken away." The measure was passed in a 9-2 vote on Tuesday night.

The Mayor's Hispanic Advisory Council is up in arms over the decision and is actually "divorcing" itself from the mayor. Along with the ACLU, who will be keeping a close eye on how the ordinance is enforced, they find the measure to be discriminatory, "inhumane and mean-spirited."

In reality, the ordinance is simply enforcing the law. Illegal immigration has failed to be dealt with correctly federally. With the revival of shamnesty, it continues to be an uphill battle. We have seen the consequences, not only at a national but local level. Any steps to regulate and prevent such need to be taken.

Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt is a local leader who gets that.

Mayor Jim Schmitt said the city acted out of frustration with President Bush and Congress over their failure to deal with illegal immigration.

"Had the federal government done its job, we wouldn't have this issue and we wouldn't have to go have good people disagreeing," he said.

He also, accurately states...

"I don't think the ordinance is unwelcoming or discriminatory as others have said," Schmitt said. "To me, it says we want people who do business here to play by the rules."